Supreme Court of Mauritius 2023 Statistics: Cases Pending, New Filings, and Resolved for the Year

The Supreme Court of Mauritius recently published statistics regarding its activities for the year 2023, giving an overview of the workload and legal trends during this period. At the beginning of 2023, there were 5,724 cases pending before this high court. At the end of 2023, the number of cases pending before the High Court was 5,761.

For the year 2023, 5,985 new cases were registered in the High Court, with the Family Division having the largest number of cases, accounting for 65% of the total. These cases were distributed as follows: 982 cases in the commercial court, 3,885 cases in the family division and 806 new cases (excluding appeals) filed on the docket, with 227 appeals civil and 85 criminal appeals.

In 2023, 5,948 cases were heard. Among them and according to figures from the Supreme Court, 3,888 cases took up to six months, 886 were heard between seven and 12 months, and 1,174 cases took more than a year for the hearing. At the end of 2023, the number of pending cases was 5,761, with a breakdown of 5,473 civil cases and 288 criminal cases.

Regarding the time required to process cases, it is noted that 80% of those heard were processed within a year. However, 36% of cases pending for more than a year are still being processed, indicating ongoing challenges to judicial efficiency and delays.

Across jurisdictions, the Family Division saw 3,885 new cases filed in 2023, and 4,025 cases resolved. The commercial court also recorded strong activity with 982 new cases filed and 903 cases processed. Regarding calls, 312 new calls were registered, including 85 for criminal cases (27%) and 227 civil cases (73%). Of these 312 appeals, 270 were resolved during the year. The number of pending civil trials as of December 2023 was 5,473.